1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to obviating a meet-me conference hub, and, in particular, to a system and method for replacing the meet-me conference hub with direct call(s) among participants.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic conference (“e-conference”) is a conference, communication session, or the like among a plurality of participants, in which participants communicate electronically. An e-conference may be organized as an “ad-hoc” conference or as a “meet-me” conference. Ad-hoc conferences are established on-the-fly by current participants who are able to reach out to add new participants to the conference, without the use of a central hub. In contrast, a meet-me conference provides a common meeting place (e.g., a conference hub) where all participants can electronically assemble. Meet-me conferences are typically relatively more convenient and offer more features and services, while ad-hoc conferences can offer relatively increased efficiency, quality, shorter latency and reliability.
Existing e-conference solutions force participants to choose a conferencing method at setup time, and to continue using the chosen conferencing method during the duration of the e-conference, despite changes in participation levels or feature needs of the participants.
Therefore, a need exists to provide more flexible e-conference communications, in order to provide an improved and dynamic balance of features, services, efficiency, quality, latency and reliability, and ultimately improved customer satisfaction.